
JUL. 






UUT^025 139 9 



T^' 







"LINCOLN" 



SPEECH 

OF 

HOiN. RICHARD YATES 

OF ILLINOIS 

IN THE HOUSE OF RE^jJRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 1921 



[Extract from Recokd, Feb. 4, 1921.] 

LINCOLN'S BinTHDAT. . 

Mr TowNFn Mr. Speaker, I clc^ire to ask unaiiimons consent that 
on Saturday Fehniarv 12, Lincoln's birtbcla.y. the gentleman from Illi- 
nois [Mr Y\TES] mav be allov,-ed to address the House for 40 minuies. 

KnA in this connection I desire to make this statement. When this 
wa*s sussested to me, immediately the thought of the intimate connec- 
tion of the Yates family with Abraham Lincoln came to my mind. As 
we all know, our colleague is the son of Gov. Yates, of Illinois, the war 
covernor The personal, professional, and otBcial connection between 
Richard Yates and Abraham Lincoln was remarkable. They were born 
about the same time, they were admitted to the practice ot law about 
the same time They lived in adjoining counties, Lincoln at bpnngheia, 
in Sangamon Countv, and Gov. Yates at Jacksonville, in Morgan County. 
Thev traveled the circuit together as practicing lawyers at that time. 
Thev both served in the State Legislature of Illinois, and they both 
served in Congress here in the lifties. The one was a candidate for 
President of the Lnited States in 1860, and the other was candidate for 
governor 0^ lllinm^.^^^^^ thev made the campaign together, although it 
is well known that Lincoln did not leave hi.s front porch. They were in 
constant consultation during these years. Daring i^^^X^'j^W'^^l 
visited Washington frequently. He was elected to the benate in lSb4 
and took his place in 1805, the 4th of March.. He was almo.st dai y m 
consultation with Lincoln until his assassination and death the 14th of 

'"^^It'is exceedingly appropriate in view of these things that the son of 
Pnv Yntes who lias himself been governor of the State of Illinois and 
who-rew up n an atmosphere that was born of the intimacy with the 
"reat mart -red President of the United States, should deliver this ad- 
dress I tliink it is indeed fortunate that wo may have an opportunity 
of hearin" from him at this time and on this occasion. 

The SrE.iKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from 

Iowa? ^. ,. 

There was no objection. 

[Extract from Record, Feb. 12, 1921.] 
The ^SpIaker.' For what purpose does the gentleman from Georgia 



rise 



Mr Ursn\w. Mr. Speaker, I simply rise to say that as a son of the 
South I wmild be recreant to a sacred impulse if I did not say I feel 
that this wonderful hour, with its spiritual impact and Us patriotic 
inspiration? has made us better Americans. [Applause.] 

• a4l73_21310 WASHINGTON : GOVEK.NMENT PRINTI.NG OFFICE : 19il 



4 

SPEECH 



y3 



,? 



HON. EICIIAED YATES. 



AliEAHAM LIKCOLN. 



The SPEAKER. By .special order for to-day, Gov. Yate.s, of 
Illmois, was j?iven 40 niinutes in wliicli to address tiie House 
on President Lincoln. The Ciiair will ask llie gentleman from 
California, Mr. Oskokxk, a veteran of the Civil War, to preside. 
[Applause.! 

Mv. OSBORNE assumed the chair as Speaker pro tempore. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Illinois 
[Gov. Yates] is recognized for 40 minutes. [Applause.] 

Address et Richard Yates, FEUnrAnT 12, 1921. 

Mi\ TATES. Mr. Speaker, a beloved poet, one of the glorious 
company of poets of America, has given us these lines : 

lie knew to bide liiitime. 
And can his fam-^abide, 
Still patient in his simple faith sublime. 

Till the wise years decide. 
Great captains, with their guns and drums. 
Disturb our judijment for the hour. 
But at last silence comes ; 
These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 

Onr children shall behold his fame, 
The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man. 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame. 
New birth of our new soil, the first American. 

(Lowell-Commemoration Ode, July 21, lSCr>.) 

I earnestly desii-e that my first word on this occasion be a 
word of thanks, and of very sincere thanks. 

Tlio privilege which has come to me by tlie gracious act of the 
gentleman from Iowa, Judge Towkee, in seeking recoguitlou 
and by the gracious act of tlie Speaker in granting tliat recog- 
nition, and l)y the gracious act of the Ho^ise in extending unani- 
mous consent Ihat I may ?peak liere is appreciated fully. It is 
an adornment, an ■embeJlishment, indeed a decoration, in any 
man's public service to be the one man designated esiDecially by 
this House of Commons of the American people to speak on thfs 
day. 

At this hour we stand in an imposing presence. For not we 
only are observing this occasion. All over the land the Amexl- 
can people are standing in salute to-day while Abraham Lin- 
coln and all his deeds and scenes of- saci-ifice are passing ia 
review. Amid a deepening sentiurent of brotherhood all classes 
and <'onditions and sections combine to recall the virtues of 
his life and death. There are millions upon millions with tus 
thinking about Abraham Lincoln from ocean to ocean at tliis 
moment. 

It is, I liope, not wrong for me, while recognizing the deep 
sense of responsibility of the day and occasion, to venture to 
say that there is a personal reason, an intimate, delicate rea- 
son, which causes nie to come to this point with deep personal 
emotion. 

In this city of Washington, on a street corner, on a bright 
morning of a day which must liave been not later than April 
14, 1S6.:», the fatal day, and not earlier tlmn March 4 of tiaat 
2 S41T3— 21310 



lUN 1 1921 



year, a very tiny boy stood on tiptoe trying with his tiny stature 
to loolv lip into the face of tlie tallest man he had ever seen — a 
very tall man — very dark as to hair and board. There was 
doubt when the little fellow went home to his parents' boarding 
house and reported that President Lincoln had stopped him 
and pulled his ears and tousled his hair, but the little boy never 
doubted, and to-day, after the lapse of 55 years, I am satisfied 
that on that one occasion I saw and talked to Father Abraham. 
[Applause.] Jlen and women are wrong who think that a 
little child can not remember things which happened at the ago 
of 4 or 5. All mothers know that if you talk to a child about 
one thing only, morning, noon, and night, breakfast, dinner, and 
supper, and around the fireside in the evening, and keep it up for 
four long dramatic years, that child will remember it. It so 
happened that nothing else was talked about under the roof that 
.sheltered me in ISGl', aSG2, 1SG3, and 1864 but the Union and 
the Flag, the Union and liberty, the Union and Abraham Lin- 
coln. So it is not strange I recognized him that day — not im- 
modest in me to claim that I saw him once. [Applause.] 

I ^^•ill not undertake to deliver an address to-day upon that 
ponderous subject the " Life and character of AbrahanT Lin- 
coln." This is because the life of the hero, in whose name and 
to honor whose memory we are gathered here, was a life which 
touched a greL*t many spheres of human experience, and which 
accordingly presents to the biographer a great many phases of 
action and character — far more than is usually the case in the 
life of a man, especially American man. 

I will content myself with referring to a few of the things 
in which I think he excelled. 

LINCOLX THE OHATOn. 

For one thing, he was a peer of ablest orators. I point you to 
a few examples of his eloquence: 

IMarch 4, ISGl, at the close of his first inaugural address, he 
said : 

In j-oui- hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, 
is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail 
you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. 
Von have no oath registered in heaven to destroy this Government, while 
I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. 
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be 
enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our 
bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every 
battle field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all 
over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again 
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 

While in this first inaugural Lincoln spoke of war, I believe 
he really hoped that there would be no scourge of war. Yet 
how apt and tit his words. Certain it is that had all men fully 
understood how unalterably determined he was, there would, 
somehow, have been a yielding to him. 

On March 4, 1SG5, in his second inaugural address he said : 

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this scourge of war 
may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all 
the wealth piled by the bondsman's L'.")0 years of unrequited toil shall 
be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be 
paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, 
still it must be said that "the judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether." ... , .. 

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the 

right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are 

in — to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have 

borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which 

34173—21.^10 



may achieve nnd cliorisli a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and 
with all nations. 

Wlion tliis passase was uttered the thing had come to pass. 
There had been a partuig in a million homes, and that parting 
was forever. Tliere had been nearly a thousand battles and 
American valor had written its name high on the temple of 
fame. The embattled world stood in awe of the arms and 
in-owess at the beck and call of him who had been the flat- 
boat boy and rail splitter. And he who, in 1S30, clad in buck- 
skin clothing and coonskin cap, had crossed the eastern line of 
Illinois — this man was now the Commander in Chief of the 
greatest of military nations, to whom the imperial Caesars 
would liave yielded tribute had he then demanded it. [Ap- 
plause.] Yet notice the humble and loving words. 

(Let me say, by way of parenthesis, that I do verily believe 
that the valor of Donelson and Shiloh, of Vicksburg and Gettys- 
burg — yes, on both sides, North and South — did write its name 
so high on the temple of fame that it kept the kings and the 
emperors, the sultans and the czars — and the mikados — off of 
us for 55 years, until 1917.) 

Another instance of his eloquence: 

On the 11th day of February, 1S61, a cold, bleak, rainy morn- 
ing, to his neighbors and friends assembled to bid hilu fare- 
well — a little company, only 200 in number, but a loving com- 
pany, standing, uncovered, in the rain — he, also uncovered, in 
the rain, said : 

My friends, no one not in my situation can appreciate my feelings 
of sadness at this parting. To this place and the kindness of this 
people I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, 
and have passed from a young to an old man. Here mv children were 
born and one lies buried. I novv' leave, not knowing when or whether 
ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which 
rested on the shoulders of Washington. Without the aid of that 
Divine Being, who ever aided him, who controls mine and all destinies, 
I can not succeed. With that assistance I can not fail. Trusting in 
llim who can go with mc and remain with you and be everywhere, for 
good, lot us confidently hope that all will be well. To His care com- 
mou'liug you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid 
you, friends and neighbors, an affectionate farewell. 

Four years ago five men — John Bunn, William Jayne, George 
Tasfield, George Brinkerhoff, and Lincoln Dubois, ail survivors 
of that meeting — v/ere cheered by a vast throng, as we of 
Springfield dedicated a stone, bought by the women of Spring- 
field, to mark forever that spot; and all those men, deep stu- 
dents of Lincoln's words and works, consider this one of his 
most eloquent utterances. One of his historians, a student 
in his law office, Henry Rankin, still living in Springfield, also 
a survivor of that meeting, considers it unexcelled. I think so 
myself, unless it be one paragraph in his speech next day at 
Columbus, Ohio. 

On the 13th day of February, ISGl, at Columbus, to the 
Legislature of Ohio, he said : 

I can not but know what .vou all know, that without a name, per- 
haps without a reason why I should have a name there has fallen 
upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his 
Country; and feeling so. I can not but turn and look for that help 
without waich it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. 
I turn, then, and look for help to the great Aniericau people and to 
that God who has never forsaken them. 

This pas.sage appeals to me as much as anything which ever 
came from his tongue or pen. You and I know that he received 
tlie help he prayed for— received it from 20,000,000 l(»yal hearts, 
34i7;i --i;i;;iu 



iiiid ri-din tlio lulinite I'owcr on higli. He put one hand in 
tlie outsvfetched palm of llio American people, ami with the 
otlier lie laid a strong hold upon the almighty arm of the 
almighty God, and, standing there supported by humanity and 
supported by Divinity, he fought the grandest fight and won 
the grandest victory for the whole country, race, and Nation, 
North and South, East and West, that the world has ever 
seen since the Savior walked among the sons of men. And, 
very marvelously, the men who then fought him uow believe he 
won a victory for them, too. 

No attempt will be made to give further examples of his ora- 
torical power, excepting to quote the words which he delivered, 
to the edification and inspiration of the Nation and Christendom, 
on the battle field of Gettysburg in November, 1SG3, They read 
as follows : 

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 
this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated 
to tlie proposition that all men are created equal. Now avc are 
engaged in a great civil wai', testing whether that Nation, or 
any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We 
are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come 
to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place of 
those who here gave their lives that that Nation might live. It 
is altogether fitting and proper that wo should do this. 

" But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not con- 
secrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living 
and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our 
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor 
long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what 
they did here. It is for lis, the living, rather, to be dedicated 
here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have 
thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedi- 
cated to the great task remaining before lis — that from these 
honored dead we take increased devotion to tluit cause for 
Avhich they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we hero 
liighly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ; that 
this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; and 
that government of the people, by the people, for the people 
shall not perish from the earth." 

It is said that these words were first written on the backs of 
envelopes in a railway car between Washington and Gettysburg. 
Yet notice the grandeur of every sentence. 

They leave us almost breathless at their close. 

LINCOLN THE OVERCOMEK. 

Secondly. He was the conqueror of difficulties — he was a 
Knight of the Sublime Order of Disappointment. 

Yearning to learn, he was censured for that disposition. 
Craving information, he was deprived of almost all books ; 
loving his fellow men, he was afilicted for years Avith bashful- 
ness; with an eye and ear for all the beautiful in nature, in 
poetry, and in song, lie was burdened, he says, with a voice, 
face, and form alike unfortunate. Those who knew him, and 
particularly tliose who encountered his eternal friendliness, 
never deemed him uncouth or homely. Col. Freeman Thorp, 
M-ho sketched him often and whose painting of him was accepted 
by the Senate, assures me he saw no nncouthness, just " a tall, 
spare, but well-formed, muscular man, very erect, with impres- 
sive, plain, unassuming liearing."' 
34173— lil.j 10 



"With a desire to be a useful member of the community, he, 
when he became of age, embarked, in various business ventures, 
and every one of tliem, without exception at all, was signally dis- 
astrous; they fastened upon him a burden of debt which he 
carried for 20 years, and never did dispose of until 1S49, his 
fortieth year, after his election to Congress. He called it the 
" National debt." It amounted to $1,100 and was in the form of 
promissory notes. When these notes became dne all the cred- 
itors consented to renew them except one. This man brought 
suit, obtained judgment, issued an execution, and levied upon 
the surveying implements, which Lincoln called the things which 
kept soul and body together. The day of sale came, but down 
the dusty road that day came James Short, a farmer, and he 
bought all the things at the sale and laid them at Lincoln's feet, 
and said, " Here, begin again." Thirty-two years afterwards 
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, heaixl that 
.Tames Short was destitute on the western border of Nebraska, 
and as fast as steam and train (and pony express) could carry 
it-, he sent aid and comfort, succor and support. Gratitude after 
32 years ! I would love Abraham Lincoln for that, if not for 
anything else. [Applause.] 

Desiring to go to the legislature, he was doomed at first 
to disappointment. Later, aspiring to congressional honors, 
he again met with defeats — due to provoking and exasper£it- 
ing misconceptions of him ; and even when a candidate for 
United States Senator in 1S56 and 1S5S he still imderwent the 
indescribable humiliation of being almost invariably misunder- 
stood — resting, for example, under the charge of being the can- 
didate of wealth, aristocracy, and family pride, he, who as a 
flatboat boy, at $S per month, had had to earn his living by the 
veriest sweat of liis brow. And all along the wending way the 
death of beloved children and the ingratitude of pretended 
friends seemed to combine to make his life unbearable and all 
his hopes a mockery. 

I have never seen the thought expressed in any biography, 
but from the reading of some of his oaati letters and speeches 
I have received the impression that, to sorne extent at least, 
he himself at times gave way to the thought that his life of 
continued agonizing was intended to prepare him for some 
great test. 

In 1900 Prof. Van Buren Denslow, of New York City, wrote 
to me shiling that in 1800 he left in Illinois a copy of a speech 
delivered by IMr. Lincoln in the hall of the house of representa- 
tives at Springfield in 1S39 ; anotlier copy of which speecli 
Prof. Denslow had never been able to secure. I took pleasure in 
hunting for the lost pamphlet, was fortunate enough to find it, 
and forwarded it to its owner — 40 years after he had parted 
with it. But before sending it back I read it. I shall always 
be impressed AAith its closing paragraph. I took a copy of it, 
but unfortunately iiave lost that, and I iiave never seen it any- 
where else. I can not now quote it, but in substance it was tliis : 
" I never so fully realize my manhood ; I never feel myself so 
fully rising to the complete exercise of the faculties which God 
has given me, as when I contemplate my country, assailed and 
in dangei-, and I, alone, standing between her and tlie perils 
that surround her." 

The si>eech was full of wliat wonld nowadays be called sopho- 
niorical eloquence and, we must remember, was written at the 
^417;!— 2i;uo 



age of 30, wbcn Mr. Lincoln was merely a member of the litUe 
Illinois Legislature, only 21 years after Illinois was made a 
State and full 22 years before the eventful March, ISGl, when 
he Avas inaugurated as I'resident. It certainly has a prophetic 
sound, and whatever his intention when writing it, I prefer 
to believe that in the midnight hour, when that sentence was 
framed — in the rare and radiant moment when his wrought-up 
brain conveyed that high thought to his swift and shining pen- 
Abraham Lincoln was inspired. At any rate, the hour then 
imagined actually came, and in a time of sadness and of dark- 
ness that was to all others unutterably appalling this man who 
could n.ot be appalled took into his lirm grasp the quivering hehn 
of the then struggling Ship of Slate and never lifted his hand 
nor rested his eye until it entered the havf-n of rest. 

The lightnings b'.azed tb.eir blinding bolts about him, but he 
never faltered. The thu.nders poured their awful blasts upon 
him, but ho never wavered. Wave after wave of trial raised 
its horrid, seething crest across his path and roared, " Thus far 
and no farther,'' but he never yielded. 

And at last, amidst the tears and prayers and thanksgiving 
of humanity. Abraham Lincoln steered the battered but yet 
beautiful ship into the harbor of i>erfect peace and anchored 
her there in beauty and grandeur and grace and power, safe 
from all the attacks of terrible treason and wasting war forever. 

LINCOLN THE LOVER. 

Lincoln was a paragon among lovers. He says he was awk- 
Avard and bashful in the time when " young men's fancies lightly 
turn to thoughts of love." I am sure he was not unlovable." He 
certain.ly was highly regarded by not a few noble women, and 
at different times four of them so treated him that ho even 
felt justified in proposing marriage. Ann Rutledge, Mary 
Owens, Sai-ah Kiekard, and Mary Todd— these four Wc know 
lie loved. It is always a gratification to me to know that our 
greatest men liave been among our most ardent lovers. Wash- 
ington was devoted to five different girls within 10 years. 
[Laughter.] He, however, was an elegant gentleman, a man 
of fashion, and always at ease in ladies' society, and it is not 
in the least surprising that a man so constantly coming into 
contact with women should be attracted by and to them. 
Timidity, however, in polite society, was a characteristic of 
Lincoln's whole life. And strong indeed must have been his 
love to enable it to overcome his natural shyness in v.oman's 
presence. 

Those who knew him best assert that his affection once 
evoked was impetuous and fervent. Above the lonely grave in 
Menard County of Ann Itutledge his great heart broke. 'To that 
lovely girl he had told the old, old story as he escorted her to 
the "quilting bee." The owner of a quilt made in those days 
used to show to all interested the vei-y uneven and irregular 
stitches which Ann liutledge made as her heart and soul 
throbbed and thrilled with .joy when, sitting by her side as she 
stitched and stitched at the "quilling frame." Lincoln told that 
story of man's love for woman, sweet as it is old and old as it is 
sweet. Thank God! 

"All the world loves a lover." And no one will love Lincoln 
less because of tlie historical fact that his reason, or at least 
his hope and interest in life, departed from liim when Ann died. 
34173—21310 



Yes; that heart and soul and mind and intellect which in later 
years could contemplate unmoved a world in arras, were all 
dethroned bwause a sweet girl died in ?,Ienard County. 

It was live long years before any other woman attracted him. 
Then two, in somewhat rapid succession, became recipients of 
his regard. Although esteeming him, they rejected him, not 
fully comprehending him. When he did finally marry, 10 yeai's 
later, he became and remained a model husband, and Mary Todd 
Lincoln was a model wife. But many think to this day that the 
fragrance of tlie memory of the loved and lost one of Nevv' Salem 
hovered about him till his death and contributed to make hira 
what, at times, he was — the saddest man of his time. 

A kind friend, aftQr Ann Rutledge's death, took Mr. Lincoln 
to his little home in a secluded spot, hidden by the hills, and 
there slowly and gradually brouglit him back to reason after 
weeks and weeks of suffering and peril. 

In 1842 that kind friend— Bowling Greene — died, and Lincoln 
was selected to deliver a funeral oration. He rose to speak, 
but the old, dear memories ci'owded upon him, he broke down, 
his voice choked, his lips quivered, the tears poured down his 
cheeks. After repeated efforts, finding it absolutely impossible 
to speak, he strode away, bitterly sobbing. Every heart was 
touched by the spectacle. 

I myself shall always believe that we would never have had 
the Lincoln we love, the gentle, tender Father Abraham, had not 
he liimself loved mightily and madly. 

He not only loved, but he loved to help others. He was not a 
selfish man, thinking always of self alone. He frequently 
thought about others before they thought about themselves. He 
was of that type of man of v.hom it can be and is said — 
ne is your friend behind your back. 

In this connection — this is an appropriate place for me to 
quote from several impublished letters. 

On the 10th day of December, 1S17 — the thing which I now 
read through these lines is that he wanted his old friends and 
boon companions " back home " to know all that he knew ; 
wanted to share his knowledge ; to give to others — he said : 

Wasiiixgton, Deccmher 10, lS'i7. 

Frikxd Yates: I presented your elaim to Douglass this morning; ho 
Bays it is all right and that he will pay it in a few days. When he 
shall have done so, you shall hear from mo at once. 

Things have not advanced far enough to enable mo to tell you much 
in the way of politics, more than you see in the papers. I believe Mr. 
("allioun and what force he can control are preparing to support Gen. 
Taylor for the Presidency. I get this impression from conversations 
with Duff Greene, who boards at the same house I do. There are, how- 
ever, a great many Whigs here who do not wish to go for Taylor, and 
some of whom I f^ar can not be brought to do it. There are stiU 
many others of them who are strong for him, among whom I class Mr. 
Crittenden, althougli he does not expressly say so. I shall be pleased 
to have a line from you occasionally. 
Yours, truly, 

A. Ltxcoln. 

It is of interest to know that Al)raham Lincoln, during his 
one term in this House, beginning Marcli 4, 1847, the Thirtieth 
Congre.ss, liad, as his colleagues, and also among the Senators, 
many men, scores of them, who were sooner or later very 
prominent. 

Tlie Senate was composed of .50 men, the States numbering 
28, and vras presided over by Vice I'resident George M. Dallas, 
S4173— 21310 



of Pennsylvfinia. Tlio two Sonators from Illinois worp Sidney 
Breese and Steplion A. Donglas. Other Senators were John O. 
Calhoun, Hannibal Ilamlin (later Vice President), John A. Dix, 
and. Sam Houston; also John J. Crittenden, Thomas II. Benton, 
and Daniel Webster; and also Jefferson Davis, later Secretary 
of War and Confederate President. The Senate, of course, occu- 
pied what is now the Supreme Court room. 

James K. Polk was President. 

Among Mr. Lincoln's colleagues in the House were Bobert 
Toombs and Howell Cobb, David Wilmot and Horace Greeley, 
and also Alexander H. Stephens, later Confederate Vice Presi- 
dent, and also Andrew Johnson, later President of the United 
States, and also John Quincy Adams, former President of the 
United States. 

The Speaker of the House was Robert C. Winthrop, of Massa- 
chusetts, of whom it was said in the old-time phrase that he 
was " a man of parts," of notable accomplishments, diligent 
application, eternal vigilance, and unfailing courtesy — all of 
which phrases and praises we of this present House, the Sixty- 
sixth Congress, concede, apply to the Massachusetts gentleman, 
who, happily, now presides over our sometimes unruly sessions. 
[Applause.] 

The Hall of the House was, of course, what is now Statuary 
Hall, and as tlie Speaker glanced due northwest Lis eye would 
rest on Mr. Lincoln's seat, which was in the back row. The 
number of the seat, according to the little Congressional Direc- 
tory of that day, which I hold in my hand, was 191, and on his 
right sat No. 190— John Van Dyke, of New Jersey— and directly 
in front was seat IGS — Lewis C. Levin, of Pennsylvania. 

I mentioned above Alexander II. Stephens, later Confederate 
Vice President. He sat only five seats away from Lincoln. Con- 
cerning him Lincoln wrote to a friend February 2, 1848, as fol- 
lows : 

I just take my pen to sny that Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, a little, 
slim, pale-faced, consumptive" man, Avith a voice like Judge Logan's, has 
.iust concluded the very best speech of an hour's length I ever lieard. 
isiv old withered, dry eyes are full of tears yet. If he writes it out any- 
thing like he delivered it, our people shall see many copies of it. 

I can not refrain from inserting here the tribute which Alex- 
ander H. Stephens in 1SS2 wrote to Mr. Oldroyd : 

I knew Mr. Lincoln well and intimately. We were both Members of 
the Thirtieth Consress— that is, from 1847 to 4th March, 1840. We 
both belonged to the Whig organization of that day, and were both 
ardent supporters of Gen. Zachary Taylor to the Presidency in 1848. 
* * * Mr. Lincoln was possessed of a very strong, clear, and vigor- 
ous mind. He alwavs attracted the riveted attention of the House when 
he spoke ; his manner of speech, as well as. his thought, was original. 
He had no model. * * * He abounded in anecdotes, always apt 
and pointed. * * * In my last interview with him, at the cele- 
brated Hampton Roads conference, in 18G5, this trait seemed as strik- 
ing as ever. He was a man of strong attachments, and his nature over- 
flowed with the milk of human kindness. Widely as wo were separated 
in politics in the latter days of his life, yet I ever cherisli for him a 
high degree of personal regard. I cheerfully give this tribute to his 
memory. 

Mr. Lincoln did not attempt to succeed himsel^'; there was a 
compact between four men, and it was kept. [Applause.! 

Edward D. Baker was to run in 1844 for the Twenty-ninth 
Congress— Baker the eloquent and valiant, talented and la- 
mented; Abraham Lincoln was to run in 184G for the Thirtieth 
Congress; a third gentleman was to run in 1848 for the Thirty- 
first Congress; and my father was to run in 18.'>0 for the Thirty- 
34173—21310 



10 

second Con.aross. The third ]ilank in tlie compact failed of ful- 
fillment only bccau>;e the party of the third part was vanquished 
at the polls by Maj. Thomas L. Harris, a gallant veteran of the 
^Mexican War, who, in turn, succumbed to Yates in 1850 and 
1S52, only to overthrow Yates in 1854. 

In the campaign of 1854 ho evinced a desperate anxiety to 
help my father, who was then the nominee for Congress in the 
Sangamon-Morgan district, and wrote him the following letter: 

Sl'RINGFIELD, Aligust IS^ JSo'i. 

lion. R. Yatics, 

Jacksonriltc, III. 

Mr Dear Sir : I am disnppointccl nt not having seen or heard from 
you since I mot you more than a week ago at the r'ailroad depot here. 
1 wish to have the matter we spolce of settled and worl^iug lo its con- 
summation. I understand that our friend B. S. Edwards is entirely 
satisfied now, and when 1 can assure myself of this perfectly I would 
like, by your leave, to got an additional paragraph into the Journal, 
about as follows : 

" To-day we place the name of Hon. Richard Yates at the head of 
our columns for reelection as the Whig candidate for this congressional 
dislrict. AVe do this without consultation with him and subject to the 
decision of a Whig convention, should the holding of one be deemed 
necessary ; hoping, however, there may be unanimous acquiescence with- 
out a convention." 

May I do this? Answer by return mail. 
Yours, as ever, 

A. LlNXOLX. 

An equally unselfish k-tter fdUowed : 

K.\rLES, III., Xovcmlicr 1, ISO',. 

Dn.\R Y.\TES : I am on my way to Quincy to speak for our old friend 
Archie M'illiams. On my way down 1 heard at Jacksonville a story 
which may harm you if not averted — namely, that you have been a 
Know-Xotiiing. I suggest that you get a denial — something like the 
inclosed draft which I have made — into the bands of a safe man in 
each precinct. 

The day before election will do. 

Yours, as ever, A. Lixcoln. 

My father took this letter, a yellowed O'ld blue sheet, and 
turned it over and wrote on it — in 18G5 — to one of the biogra- 
phers of Lincoln : 

Dear Mr. Arxold : This was good advice, but it came too late. In 
n district lost by us on the Presidency by 2,000, I Avas defeated by only 
200, over half of whom, I am sure, voted against me because of a 
false and sworu-to affidavit that 1 had been seen in a Know-Kothing 
lodge. 

In this connection it is of interest to note that Mr. Lincoln 
disavowed Know-Nothingism iu his own case. 

In 1855 he said : 

I am not a Know-Nothing; that is certain. IIow could I be? ITow 
can anyone who abhors the oppression of Negroes be in favor of de- 
gi'ading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears 
to mo to bo pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that 
" all men are created equal." We now practically read it " all men 
arc created equal except Negroes." Wheu the Know-Nothings get con- 
trol, it will read " all men are created equal, except Negroes and for- 
eigners and Catholics." AYhen it comes to this, I shall prefer emi- 
grating to some country where they make no pretense of loving 
liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, 
and without the base alloy of hypocrisy. 

"While we have Nicolay and. Hay before us I quote from page 
100, volume 1, a letter to Herndon showing how he was loyal 
to his word and compact in politics : 

It is very pleasant to learn from you that there are some who desire 
that I should be reelected. • • • I made the declaration that I 
would not be a candidate again, more from a wish to deal fairly with 
others, to keep peace among our friends, and to keep the district from 
going to the enemy. • • • To enter myself as a competitor of 
others, is what my word and honor forbid (p. 100). 
34173—21310 



11 

Upon this subject of his love for tiU the people, I wish to 
invoke two witnesses. Here is the story of one: 

On the morning of the day of the assassination a visit to the. 
White House was paid by my father, then a Senator, and an- 
otlier Illinoisan, who had been a presidential elector, and later 
a Federal .iudge. and later a colonel of the Seventh Illinois 
Cavalry. My father said, " Mr. President, here is the man you 
want." The President said, " That's so, he'll do," and added, " I 
am going to send yon to Kew Orleans to be collector of the port — • 
j-ou will have 2,000 employees under you, all northerners, be- 
cause substantially all southerners are disfranchised ; but I 
want you to make love to those people dov,'n there." [Applause.] 

It is of interest to record that at this interview the President, 
for some reason, said : 

" I want this commission issued now," and did not rest \intil 
t!ie commission was delivered — sent over by the Secretary of 
the Treasury — and the two Illiuoisans walked out with the last 
commission ever signed by Lincoln. That night they so- 
journed at the old National Hotel — room 12 — and about 9 
o'clock my father, who had been at the theater, rushed in, A'ery 
pale, and shouted, " Oh, Kellogg, the President has been shot." 
And Kellogg said to me last year, " So we walked the streets 
all night, a hundred thousand men — never went to bed at all — 
and in the morning I stood across the street and watched them 
carry out the body of Abraham Lincoln with his last commis- 
sion warm against my heart." 

The Kellogg I refer to was William Pitt Kellogg, later gover- 
nor and Senator from Louisiana and warm friend of such men 
as Maj. Gen. Longstreet and Gen. Wade Hampton. The point 
I emphasize is that Lincoln said, " Make love to those people." 
[Applause.] 

Here is the story of the other witness. Gen. John M. Palmer 
told me that on the night of the assassination he. Gen. Palmer, 
was military governor of Kentucky. His headquarters were at 
a hotel in Louisville, but upon trying to get back from a 
friend's house to the hotel he found the streets densely packed 
a block in each direction by heavy masses of men standing 
silent in the mud and the rain. With difficulty the general and 
his staff pushed through, only to find in the office five ex-Con- 
federate brigadier generals, the spokesman of whom made 
haste to say : 

Oh, Gen. Palmer, be not alarmed because of those 20.000 men in the 
street. Tbej' are all our soldier boys — all p.iroled .soldiers of the Con- 
federacy. They are there to show their sorrow. They believe, as we 
believe/ that in the death of Abraham Lincoln the sunny South has 
lost a true friend. 

Gen. John M. Palmer was a life-long friend of Lincoln, and 
was major general, governor, and Senator from Illinois, and in 
1S9G nominee for President, and his statement is to be entirely 
relied upon. 

LIXCOLN CHAMPIOX OF GOD. 

In the fourth place we come to the question. Was Lincoln a 
godly man? Robert Ingersoll says Lincoln did not l>eli.ve in 
G<k\. Robert Mclntyre answers that he must have believed in 
God, because God undoubtedly believed in him. 

I believe it to be true that Abraham Lincoln was a provi- 
dential man ; was, in the nineteenth-century sense and within 
the limitations of his time and clime, the bearer of a commis- 

34173—21310 



12 

Rion from tho Alnii^^hly. AVheii Lis fiithcr was about to dw. he 
wi-(>te to Iiis slopniotlier : 

I sinonroly hope thiit father may recover his health, but at all c-vonts 
fell him lo remember to cull upon and confide in our great, good, and 
merciful ^faker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. 
He notes the fall of the sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our head, 
an<l He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in Ilim. 

He lU'vev lost liis faitli in Divine Providence. From the lips 
of President "William McKinley I heard the story told him by 
IMaj. Gen. Dan Sickles, of how, on the day after the Battle of 
Gettysburg, Gen. Daniel Sickles was carried to Washington des- 
perately wounded. His first caller was President Lincoln, and 
af'ler he had inquired all about the battle. Gen. .Sickles said: 

Mr. rresident, what did you think of Gettysburg? 

IMr. Lincoln replied: 

Well. Sickles, I will tell you. When I heard that Gen. Lee was 
marching w-ith his vast army on Gettysburg and that the safety of the 
Capital, Korth, and of the whole Nation was imperiled, I went into ,i 
little room that I have at the White House, where nobody goes but me, 
and I just got down on both my knees and I prayed to the Lord God 
.Mmighfy as I never liad prayed before, and I told Ilim that this was 
His people and that this was His country, and these were IHs battles 
we were fighting, and that we could not stand any more Fredericksburgs 
or Chancellorsvllles ; and I told Him that if He would stand by me, I 
would stand by Him. 

And Sickles says that the President ended with the state- 
ment : 

After that. Sickles, I somehow h.nd no more fear about Gettysburg. 

O, tliat " lif lie room at the White House where nobody goes but 
mc!" Precious little rooui ; sacred little room. Would not you 
all like to see it and stand within it? It seems to me that if I 
could ever stand within that room in which Abraham Lincoln 
.iust talked to C,o([, I would feel forever after that I had been on 
lioly ground. " I'ut off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground," God said when he came 
down to talk to Moses. Wherever God and man talk together 
there you have holy ground. 

And llien there is the Bixby letter. President Lincoln wrote 
a letter to Mrs. Bixby, of Boston, substantially as follows : 

1-: X K c I ; T I V 10 M A X s I o \ , 
^\'asJlill(J1oll, ^'ureinbcr -^1, 186'/. 
To Mi;s. I'.ixnv, P.o.stoii, Mass. 

r>K.\u ^L\I>.\.\I : ] have been shown in the files of the War Department 
a sialement of the adjutant general of Massachusetts that you are the 
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I 
feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should 
attempt to l)egnih^ you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. Kut 
1 (an not refrain from tendering you the consolation that may he found 
in the thanks of the Kepulilic they died to save. I pray that our 
Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and 
leave you only tlie chi'rished memoi'y of the loved and lost, and the 
solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upou 
the altar of freedom. 

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, 

A. I^INCOLX. 

fApjilause.l 

And then there is Uu" meditation. 

In the Coujplete Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by 
Nicolay and Hay, volume S, page ."iL', api^ears the heading 
" Meditiition on the Divine Will," September oO, 38G2, and under 
this heading appears the following: 

The will of (iod prevails. In great contests each party claims to act 
in acc<H-dance witli th(> will of (iod. Hoth may \>(\ and one must be, 
wrong, (iod can not be for and against the s:uiie tiling at the same time. 

3-ii7;i L'i:;io 



13 

In tlio present Civil War, it is quito possible that God's purpose is some- 
thing different froui (he purpose o£ either party ; and yet the huiuau 
instriimeulalities working just as they do, are of the IJest aduptutiou 
to effect his purpose. 

I am almost ready to say that (Iiis is probably true; that God wills 
this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. 

By His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, He 
could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human con- 
test. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, lie could give the 
final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds. 

Concerning this meditation, the same writers, Nicohiy and 
Hay, in their worlc entitled, "Abraham Lincoln, a History," 
volume G, page 341, say : 

It is a paper which Mv. Lincoln wrote in September, 1S02, while his 
mind was burdened with the weightiest question of bis life, the weight- 
iest with which this century has had to grapple. Wearied with all the 
considerations of law and of expediency with which he had been 
struggling for two years, ho retired w'ithin himself and tried to bring 
some order into his thoughts by rising above the wrangling of men 
and of parties, and pondering the relations of human government to 
the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely detached from any 
earthl.v considerations, he wrote this meditation. It has never been 
published. It was not written to be seen of men. 

All religious utterances of Lincoln the President breathe a 
serene childlike faith — whatever he may have believed or disbe- 
lieved in his early years, I know, as do we all, that he cherished 
his Bible. He studied and carried with him on the old circuit 
from court to court the Bible and the plays of Shakespeare, the 
" Fables " of ^Esop, and the " Pilgrims' Progress " of John Bun- 
yan, and also the " Washington " of Weems. My father had 
them also and I- inherited them. These two old, shabby books, 
bound in the good, strong, old calf, are the office Bible of my 
father, dated 1S30, 91 years old, and the Shakespeare of James 
Geers, the brother of my mother ; and they left me also the 
" Fables " and the " Progress," and even a Weems's " Washing- 
ton," with the front cover torn off. Is it not a comfort to know 
that such books as these were the real equipment of the lawyer 
and statesman of that vital day — were a vital part of his meagre 
library? The Bible and Shakespeare ! Can we do Jjetter? 

THE FIFTH POINT TO BE NOTICED IS TH.iT ABRAHAM LINCOLN W.iS A 
CONSUMMATE POLITICIAN. 

Some men say there can be no noble men among politicians. 
Thomas B. Reed, the former Speaker of the National Hou.se of 
liepresentatives, once said, "A statesman is a successful poli- 
tician who is dead." 

The humor and sarcasm of the saying are exceeded only by 
its value as a truthful expression of the popular conception of 
politics and politicians. It is too true that the American 
people consider men who devote their lives to politics as devoid 
of statesmanship, and, indeed, of ordinary merit. Seldom, in 
fact, do our countrymen acknowledge any statesmanship in a 
living politician. This is all wrong, and absolutely wrong. It 
should be the duty of every person speaking in public to take 
advantage of every proper opportunity to combat this idea. 
Men who seek public preferment, who aspire to the public serv- 
ice, and who attempt to serve their country in official position 
are not on that account to be condemned and contemned. 

Abraham Lincoln never hesitated to seek public preferment 
and never thought it beneath true manhood to do so. 

William H. Ilerndon, for years Mr. Lincoln's law partner, 
received, according to Nicolay and Hay, a letter, dated June 22, 
1S48, reading as follows : 
34173—21310 



14 

Now, as to the young mpn, you must not wnit to be brought for- 
ward by tho older men. For instance, do you suppose I should have 
ever .£rot into notice if I had waited to be lunited up and pushed for- 
ward by older menV 

Horace 'Wliito. for many years editor of the Chicago Tribune, 
a staunch friend of .Mr. IJncolu's and one of the strongest men 
uf lii.s time, says : 

The popular conception of Mr. Lincoln as one not seeking public 
honors but not avoiding public duties is a post bellum growth, very 
wide of the niari<. lie M-as entirely human in this regard ; but his 
desire for political preleiinent was hedged about by a sense of obliga- 
tion to tiie truth which nothing could shake. Within this high in- 
closure he was as ambitious of earthly honors as any man of his time. 

AN'Iien the list of ofllces and positions and Iionors to which Mr. 
Lincoln aspired and for tlic attainment of which he strove is 
considered, it presents an array sutticient to astound every advo- 
cate of tlie theory tliat " the oflice sliould seek the man and not 
(lie man the office. " The captaincy of a militia company, the 
postniastership of a village, the deputy surveyorship of a county, 
the circuit judgeship pro tempore, the office of member of the 
legislature, the position of delegate to a convention, the office 
of Commissioner of the Land Office, the position of Congress- 
man, the honorary position of presidential elector, the office of 
governor of a Territory, the position of secretary of a Terri- 
try, the United States Senatorship, and the Presidency of the 
United States — a round dozen political positions, one of which 
he held four times and a number of which he held more than 
once — were all considered by him worthy of his notice, and 
none of them were considered unworthy of his aspiration and 
regard. 

In connection with what has been said of IMr. Lincoln's 
willingness to hold office, let me read to you a letter from him 
to my father : 

SrniXGFiKLD, Srptcnihcr 30, 1Sj7. 
Hon. n. Yates. 

Dfar Silt : Your letter, called out by the letter of .T. O. .Johnson, was 
received by me on my return from Chicago. Mr. .Tohuson wrote the 
letter by concert with me, and is entirely reliable. He is a newcomer, 
but he can devote more time to getting up an organization than anyone 
1 know who knov/s as well as he hov/ to do it. 

And now let me say I v>isli you could make up your mind to come 
to the legislature from Morgan County nest time. You eau be eUnted, 
and I doubt some whether any other friend can. It will be something 
of a sacriflce to you, but can you not make it? 
Yours, as ever, 

A. lilXCOLN. 

I'lease notice that ^Ir. Lincoln l)elieved in "getting u)) an 
organization." That might be called "organizing a political 
machine" to-day. And, further, he does not hesitate to call 
upon a " friend " in whom he has confidence to come to his aid. 
For this letter must be read in the plain light of the fact (hat 
I\Ir. Lincoln when ho wrote it was a candidate for United 
States Senator and was anxious to have from ]\Iorgau County 
a member of the legislature who wotdd support his cause, the 
Senator then being elected by the legislature. 

I would not be misunderstood. Abraham Lincoln was not a 
" politician " in the discreditable acceptance of that teriu. He 
was a politician in the true sense of the term, a sense which 
it should be the duty and the pride of every man aspiring to 
or engaged in the public service to retain for the word. Wei'o 
all politicians to emulate him in this regard, discredit would not 
accrue to the seeker after the honors and awards of the Amer- 
ican public service. 
■^■Wi:', 21010 



15 

For ages to come his life nnd achievements ns n politician — ■ 
that is, statesman — will relloct luster upon that profession and 
career, which formerly was and- should forever be the dearest 
and the grandest in the estimation of American youth. 

COXCLUSION. 

Of course, Abraham Lincoln was more — much more — than 
great lover, great orator, great overcomer, great politician, great 
champion of the Almighty. He was a good lawyer and a good 
diplomat, a good student of finance and a fair general, a fair 
engineer, and a fair poet. 

But he must have been more to have attracted, enjoyed, and 
kept the popular devotion — the love of the people as a whole. 

What was it that caused and compelled a nation on its knees, 
at its open graves, to idolize him? Why was it, how could it be 
that after 400,000 boys had died the deatli, and at least 400,000 
more were horribly mutilated or hopelessly diseased, the moth- 
ers, sisters, wives, and SAveethearts still adored Father Abra- 
ham? 

I think it was his sincerity and simplicitj', sincere simplicity, 
siaiple sincerity. 

One noted Illinoisan, Col. Ingersoll, said : 

He wore no official robes on his body or on his soul. 

• * ♦ Through titles and rags and race he saw the real. 

The keynote, the passage which seems to me, all things con- 
sidered, to explain the spell which this man always possessed 
over our country and the world— this quotation is to be found in 
the great address by George Bancroft, the historian, delivered 
before the two Flouses of Congress assembled in joint session 
the 12th day of February, 186G. 

This is what Bancroft says : 

As the presidential election drew on one of the great traditional 
■parties did not make its appearance; tbe other reeled as it sought to 
preserve its old position, and the candidate who most nearly repre- 
sented its best opinion, driven by patriotic zeal, roamed the country 
from end to end to speak for union, eager, at least, to confront its 
enemies, yet not having hope that it would find its deliverance through 
him. The storm rose to a whirlwind; who should allay its ^N-rath? 
The most experienced statesmen of the country had failed ; there wag 
no hope from those who were great after the flesh ; could relief come 
from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom of little children? 

In an address upon Lincoln which I only recently discov- 
ei'ed my own father said : 

I never saw, and no man ever saw, any difference between the Abra- 
ham Lincoln in his office at Springfield and the Abraham Lincoln in the 
White House. He never changed. He trusted the people and they him. 
There was something in his lowly origin and in th^e story of his life 
and its struggles that made the people draw close to him. He talked 
to them in such a way that they underst&od him better than they 
did other men. 

There you have it. 

They understood liim better, because he had the wisdom of 
little children. He had the directness of the child, the truth 
of tlie child, the fearlessness of the child, the plainness of speech 
of the child, and, above all, the forgiveness of the child ; and 
liaviag all this the " common people heard him gladly," oven 
as it is written of Jesus Christ, and the same common people 
when he died cried in the streets. 

A blend of mirtJi and sadness, smiles and tears; 
A quaint knight-errant of the pioneers ; 
A Iiomely hero, born of star and sod ; 
A peasant prince, a masterpiece of God. 

IProlonged applause, the ilenibers rising.] 

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